wilson and l



T. IV.

YV'ILSON AND L. RAYMOND, OF NEYV YORK, N. Y.

DISENGAGING-HOOK FOR LIBERATING SHIPS BOATS.

Speccaton of Letters Patent No. 26,220, dated November 22, 1859.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, THOMAS IVARREN lVILsoN and Lnwis RAYMOND, of the cit-y, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Means of Disengaging Boats from Tackles; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and eXact description of our said invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which represents a side view of the lower block of a tackle with our detachable hook fitted thereto, together with fragmentary parts of the ropes and of the eye bolt of the boat.

Our invention has for its object the rapid disengagement of a boat from the tackle, by which it is suspended from the davit., when the boat is lowered into the water, so as to avoid the danger which attends the lowering of boats in a sea way, when the vessel from which they are lowered is in motion. Various means have been devised for effecting this operation, but, so far as we are aware of, these means are dependent upon some mechanism appertaining to the boat, or to the tackle, and are not caused to operate by the connection of any part of the apparatus with the davit from which the boat is lowered, or with the vessel which sustains that davit.

Our invention consists in a means of detaching the boat, when lowered, by a detachable hook, composed of an open eye and of a movable pin which closes the eye, and which is connected with the davit or other part of the vessel, by a lanyard of determined length in such manner that a disengagement of the pin takes piace whenever, in the process of slackening the tackle the lanyard is drawn taut.

In the accompanying drawing the detachable hook A is represented as connected by a swivel with the lower block B of the tackle, by which one end of a boat is suspended from the davit of a vessel. The detachable hook consists of two parts acting in combination with each other to hold the eye bolt O of the boat. One of these parts is the open eye (l whose two extremities e and i are perforated with holes, through which a pin f, which constitutes the other part of the hook, is passed. The upper end of the pin has an eye g, formed in it, to which one end of a lanyard H is secured, and its lower end has al blunt point formed on it, to facilitate its entrance into the lower hole of the open eye.

Then a boat is suspended from a hook thus constructed, the several parts occupy the position represented in the drawing, the eye bolt of the boat being held securely in the eye by the pin f. Before a boat is lowered, the upper end of the lanyard H is made fast either to the davit or to some stationary part of the vessel, and the length of the lanyard is so adjusted that it shall draw taut when the boat in lowering enters the water. Then the boat, in lowering, by the slackening of the tackle, enters the water, the tautening of the lanyard draws the pin out of its holes, and releases the eye bolt of the boat, which is thus instantly freed from the tackle.

then a boat is to be raised from the water, the lanyard H, is slacked, the lower end of the open eye is inserted in the eye bolt of the boat, and the pin is entered in its place, after which the boat is raised in the usual manner.

In a sea way it is not necessary that the length of the lanyard should be adjusted to the exact distance of the boat from the water as the distance may vary according as the boat in lowering strikes the crest or the trough of a wave; it is sufficient that the length be an approximation to this distance, as experimental trials prove that the movement of the boat in the water always tautens the lanyard and frees the boat before any accident can occur from her connection with the tackle.

In adjust-ing the lengths of the lanyards for the detachable hooks at the bow and stern of the boat, the latter should be a little the shorter so as to insure the disengagement of the stern before the bow, unless the vessel from which the boat is lowered has stern way upon her, in which case the bow of the boat should be first disengaged.

Our invention is applicable not only to the lowering of boats from vessels in motion but may also be used with advantage in lowering boats from docks in a tide way. The apparatus will operate with the upper arm of the eye cut away; in this case the portion of the pin above the lower arm should be made somewhat. larger than the remainder so as to form a shoulder that will keep the pin from entering too far into the lower arm. When the doubled armed eye is used the pin may if desired be made with a belt between the two arms to prevent it from being entirely drawn out, but this mode of forming the pin is not deemed as good as the plan represented in the draw- Having thus described the means of carrying our invention into effect, it is proper to state that we are aware that loose devices for connecting chains and other purposes have been made in the form of a U shaped link havingtwo arms of equal length connected by a pin, and therefore do not claim such a device, but

What we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. The combination of a detachable hook (consisting of an open eye and pin com- THOS. W. WILSON. LEWIS RAYMOND.

Witnesses:

JOHN H. TRAPP, W. L. BENNEM. 

